[SP-F7] Arc 1: Of Body, Of Mind [Completed]

[Opal 0]

Story 2: Training

Daybreak had occurred and Opal was sound asleep in her bed. Rays of sunlight started to pour in through the thin walls as she buried her face in her pillow to drown herself in the darkness. Her door slid open and Master Myoga shuffled in. He poked her with his cane to rouse the sleeping woman. She moved within the covers but did not come out of hiding. She was poked again, “Opal-san, you must wake up now. We eat then we shall train.”

The young woman stretched her hands out as she heard her door slide shut once more. Her shirt was lifted almost over her head as she blinked away the sleepiness in her eyes. She fumbled around for her clothing, but since they were just having breakfast…wouldn't this suffice? She wore a white tank top that showed her belly, and a thin pair of pants that were nearly see-through. She yawned and walked to the area where they had dinner, the smell of tea and other aromatic food drifted through her, stirring her appetite as she sluggishly walked into the dining area. Master Myoga looked up briefly and shook his head.

“Opal-san, next time wear proper clothing to the table. Remember…”

“Respect your body, right? I know Sensei, I wasn't thinking…”

The teacher nodded his head; he watched as the young woman bowed her head and gave the proper prayer before picking her chopsticks up and devouring most of the food in front of her. 

 

Edited September 20, 2015 by Opal

[Opal 0]

Opal had dressed in her training attire as instructed by Master Myoga, this was her official first day of training and after that delicious breakfast she had found herself full of energy and a positive attitude ahead. They headed back to the temple where the dojo was and they entered bowing their heads before placing a foot inside.

“First, we warm up. Stand straight and tall, rise your arms to the celling and then slowly bend forward touching your toes. Make sure you are breathing in and out as you do so, breathing is very important when you exercise your body and your mind. Once more, all the way up and then all the way down. Good Opal-san.”

The warm up consisted of long body stretches, push up and sit ups and a light jog in place to get her heart rate up. The woman was already sweating but she was determined to keep going. Her sports bra showed that she was perspiring in the early part of the day and her sleek booty shorts that were just long enough to pass over her upper thigh had been collecting the same perspiration for giving her legs a good workout.

 

Edited September 19, 2015 by Opal

[Opal 0]

The day trudged on and the woman was physically battered until she could no longer go on. She fell forward, her face dripping with sweat as she hunched over on her knees and her palms planted into the ground. Master Myoga walked beside her and crouched, “You trained hard today. How do you feel?”

The woman looked at her teacher, was that a trick question? Look at her! She was a mess and dry heaving from the exhausted state she was in. She lifted her head up, the long tendrils of raven hair unfurled from her slender shoulder as she got off the ground and looked at him with a crooked smile, “What’s next?” Master Myoga smiled and then started the next lesson.

The rigors of training were difficult. She was moving her body in ways she didn't know were possible in the game but thanks to her Sensei, she was able to move fluidly allowing the game to sort of take control or assist her with the movements subconsciously as she moved with the grace of a swan and the fluid movement of water. 

[Opal 0]

Beads of sweat dripped off her brow as her knuckles brought her up from another push up. She grit her teeth counting out the number forty five as doing twenty laps around the temple. She kicked off the ground and landed on her feet throwing a hard jab in the air and shouting. “Your form is still sloppy. Bend you left knee, your arm must be strong not rigid and tense. Upon the point of impact, that is when you form the punch. Not a moment sooner, not a moment later. Again!”

Repositioning herself on the floor, she did the same exercise again only this time it was much more difficult. She was running out of steam and she felt the muscles in her body about to give way from widespread fatigue. She ended up failing the last stance and fell over on her knees. She was breathing heavily in and out trying to grab what air she could. The old teacher nodded his head, “That is all for today. You have done what you—“

“No! I can…do…more…” 

she interrupted. She urged her body to continue no matter the cost. Her teacher gave her a nod and they began once again.

[Opal 0]

She could not do more despite what she said, but she could simply not move an inch. She felt like she was hit with a paralyzing weapon. Master Myoga knelt down to her on his knees, “There is a time to move on and a time to rest. Right now you are exhausted and we have plenty of time to go before your training is over. I shall have dinner prepared for us by the time you get back, please wash up and come to the dining room…when you are able to get up.” He couldn't help but smile a bit. She was already showing great promise and her tenacity was becoming more and more apparent. She struggled to stand; her body felt like it was being pressed up against a hard wall as she walked, suffocated by the extreme fatigue her body was giving off.

She made her way to the bathroom and slumped into the stool. She started to wash the sweat from her body and bathed in the hot waters. She might have over extended her time in there, but her muscles needed it. Eventually though that soreness went away and she was once more dressed in that green kimono she wore the other night. 

 

Edited September 19, 2015 by Opal

[Opal 0]

She had reached the dining area and sat down to eat, praying for the food and then digging in. Her Master watched as she ate quickly and without any remorse for her food, almost swallowing dumplings whole and not even chewing.

“Opal-san, slow down. The food is not going anywhere…”

The woman chewed with her mouthful and swallowed hard giving a small exhausted sigh and patting her tummy. She drank from her tea and set it back down. The old man was reading the new news that he received from his messages that the assault on the floor boss would be any day now.

“They will be making their move soon,” he said giving little detail in the subject as he spoke.

“What move?” she asked.

“The floor boss. It seems things are progressing well as many of the hardened warriors have returned. Unfortunately I will be unable to attend as will you as you are still in training. You have yet to use any SP, is that so?”

“As instructed…” she thought about who might be in the front lines, and her mind wandered to the Crimson Blades, as well as those in The Velvet Room. She had hoped the potions she left behind would be of use to them all. For some reason there was quite a few men on her mind as well, being here alone in the mountains was pretty lonely…

[Opal 0]

She was dressed in her pajamas once more, the same as the ones that she wore at the dining table during breakfast. She was puffing away at her cigarette when Master Myoga had joined her just like the other night. They both sat and looked up at the sky, at the stars.

“Another beautiful night…” she said expelling a plume of lilac smoke from out of her mouth as she looked upwards.

“Hai, Opal-san. You miss your friends, your comrades, your guild?” he asked.

“Of course. They can be a little rowdy, but they all have their special and unique qualities…”

“Hai, hai. Where do you see yourself at you when are done training here with me?”

Opal bit down on her lower lip, she assumed she would go back to the Blades and pick up where she left off so that’s what she explained to her old master. The old man nodded as he listened to her and her story of this Lindow man that died searching for PKers. “And now you feel compelled to follow in his footsteps?”

“I do…but the more time I spend here, the more time I feel is spent realizing that is not me. That was him! I spent days and days trying to be like him, upholding the honor, be strong and courageous. But deep down I’ve always been a scared little girl. He has bravery that no man ever had or ever will. I fell in love with a man I could not have, and in the end I was hurt by it.”

“And that is why you slept around after his passing? To ease the troubled mind of his death?”

The woman nodded, she was promiscuous even before his death. She told him a rather long story and filled him on the details of Lindow and how she became a Crimson Blades member.

 

Edited September 19, 2015 by Opal

[Opal 0]

“And what do you think now?” the old teacher puffed out a small cloud of smoke from his mouth as he inhaled deeply from his long pipe.

Opal flicked the lilac petal ashes from her cig and went in for another drag, “I don’t know…They are very good guild and I owe Mack a lot for helping me, but I feel as though I don’t really belong there. An army is one thing, but I don’t belong in an army…or at least, I don’t think I do.”

“An army can be crushed, a leader can fall and its people will lose morale. In the end, only one thing matters and that are you and you alone. The Crimson Blades are strong united, this is true and their Guild Master is a powerful man from what I heard, but strength is not everything. You will know this in time…Get some sleep, Opal-san. Your body needs rest; tomorrow we shall focus on mind exercises.”

The old man lifted himself up and said his goodnights to the woman. She rested her head on a pillar taking one final drag before flicking it away from her; it shattered in a light and disappeared into the wind. She expelled the smoke from her lips and went to bed.  

[Opal 0]

The morning came, much like the other and then the day passed one after the other. A week long training regimen of body and mind had gone by in a blink of an eye. Opal sweat from head to toe, but her body was getting stronger, her senses getting sharper. What exercises she could do at the start were beyond painstaking to do was now a thing of the past. Her knuckles bore down on the wooden floors; she pressed herself up and grunted, rolled over on her back, straightened out her legs and then lifted them upwards and climbed and climbed until she was doing a handstand. Slowly she rolled one hand from out of her and to her side and then she slowly went down, bending her elbows and finding balance. She breathed slowly as the pools of sweat dripped from her head to the floor. She grunted once more and flung her body upwards into a somersault and landed on her feet. She whipped her body around and her leg kicked outwards. Master Myoga watched as she went through her routine, occasionally telling her to straighten her back, loosen her grip, and spread her legs, toes point outward. He nodded to himself; each command that was given was met with perfection a moment later from the woman. She was becoming an educated and limber acrobatic fighter. She would need to know these moves off by heart to conceal her in darkness and be low and crouch to make herself unknown to all. 

[Opal 0]

Opal sat in concentration in the middle of the room. She has been meditating for the better part of maybe four hours now and she had yet to make a muscle or even twitch her nose. Master Myoga was in front of her, he too was meditating, and then the silence broke as Opal stood up looking down at her Teacher.

“It has been a week and a half, Master Myoga…I train my body day in and day out. I can feel myself getting stronger, but what does that get me in the end? I understand it disciplines my body and my spirit. But in this game, the mechanics work themselves more…”

“But it is the talent and skill of the individual that matters. Sit down, Opal-san.” The woman did as she was told, crossing her legs and listening to the wisdom of her sensei.

“You have no natural talent with weapons, or for sneaking in the shadows. So you must learn the very basics of these in order to utilize them in the game itself. You have collected thirteen SP since your time starting the game. This is a low number, by the time we are through. You will have close to 35, or maybe even 40. But it takes time, Opal-san.” The old man sighed.

“Tomorrow night…We shall begin your Shinobi training,” he said with a smile. 

[Opal 0]

The next day, Opal was dawned in her new suit of leather armor crafted by Lowenthal for her Shinobi Training. A jet black leather suit accented with a single cut cape that billowed out. However, because of Opal’s intricate nature, there was more skin showing off than the normal ninja garb. Master Myoga sighed, it would have to do.

“I had expected more…reservation and less skin, but I suppose it only makes sense for your modern kids to come up with something unique. Your first lesson of being a Shinobi is learning the fundamentals of battle. A shinobi should be quick, fierce, and without being noticed. Speed of hand, speed of mind.” He said touching the side of his head with a wrinkly finger. “You have trained your body physically; you have trained your mind, now you must combine the two into perfect harmony. Seeing as how it is night, your first introduction to the world of the Shinobi is one of learning the darkness, accepting and embracing. I have hidden a trinket in the house as well as set traps that will ring like a bell, should I hear a bell ring you will fail your mission, should I catch you…you will also fail.. Now go…!” 

[Opal 0]

Opal headed towards the house, her training had begun. Master Myoga seemed to disappear into the darkness leaving her all alone. She crept up to the first sliding door; she learned how to be stealthy but only a little. She crouched down and slid the door open gently without making any sound. She looked to her left and right but couldn’t see anything. She felt the floor in front of her, there didn’t appear to be anything amiss.

The female shinobi snuck into the house using the front door, Master Myoga’s voice rang out inside the house but she was unable to see his location, “Ninja never use the front door, Opal-san…find clarity in your mission before entering a house, no the ins and outs of your surroundings and never let down your guard.”

The words of wisdom alerted her of Master Myoga’s position. Quickly she jumped upwards into one of the ceilings and pushed the tile away concealing her visage. The old man walked by below her, his eyes shining with the <<Night Vision>> skill. She cursed to herself, “That’s cheating, Sensei…”  Opal spun around where she was and headed down the hall, landing on her feet and taking the first left. She stopped at the corner and peered around the edge of the corner. Her eyes were training on the darkness in front of her. She could see glints of metal on the floor; no doubt those were the bells she was told about. So that way was a no go.

[Opal 0]

She took off to the other side of the hallway low to the ground in the pitch black darkness around her. As she moved her left foot, she felt a little resistance. It was as if a threaded line had been placed over the area, “Connected to the wire lines, are bells at the end of each. You must navigate through them should you wish to gain passage to the other side…” Master Myoga’s disembodied voice travelled all around her.

She narrowed her honey colored eyes and lowered her body, she traced a finger along the thin wires as she noticed at the ends of each were marked off with a small bell. She grunted lightly and began to maneuver herself along the edge of the floor getting low as possible as she slipped by the first wire, the next set was by far more difficult. Six of them cross sectioned at the middle, she would have to awkwardly move through one set and then duck down low and then high jump over the last. Her womanly figure pressed into a wire half way through, the beads of sweat dripped into her mask as she cursed to herself almost letting the bell ring. She swallowed hard and tumbled forward escaping the last string. She sighed and stayed crouched down towards the floor. 

[Opal 0]

Her amber eyes darted to the left and right. She knew this house well enough and that there was a second floor to explore. She took off in the darkness, her cape billowed behind her as she stood in front of three mannequins, and once more that familiar voice rang out to her, “Ninja are experts at assassination. Take down the targets quietly without ringing their bells…” His lesson continued each step she took. Her leg bent forward and she slipped forward, rolling the other leg past as she came up. Her hand wrapped around the bell so that it wouldn’t make a noise and then lowered the mannequin to the floor. She did this to the other two as well and took them down without so much as a bell being rung. The stairs were the next obstacle, she knew they squeaked and that could prove to be difficult. She looked at her surroundings and came up with a quick plan. She made a vertical jump upwards, catching the edge of a tile in the ceiling and brought herself up and slowly monkey bared herself across to the upstairs floor.

 

She landed on her feet in a crouched down position as she slid once more like a snake slithering across the floor. Her eyes set dead ahead, no less a new trap waiting for her to be sprung. 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2015 by Opal

[Opal 0]

In the cover of darkness she moved silently like a shadow towards the next room where she believed might be the lost trinket. As she examined the door, she found that several bells were stationed around the exterior of the door. She looked up and saw the metal glints in the ceiling as well, her choices narrowing down. She would have to find another way inside. Outside? She moved her head and her long hair sprawled out before her back and her cape billowed out gently. She moved towards the window and slowly lifted it upwards and climbed out, crawling along the edge and moving towards the roof. She laid low, the darkness no longer shielding her body as the moon high above set aglow everything in its path.  

She hunched down and went towards the shadows where no moon could catch her flight. Like a slow moving cat, she ran low in the cover of the shadows and slid to a stop to a figure just up ahead. Master Myoga was standing on the roof top as well, his back turned to her. He whistled low but did not make any other sudden movements, “Ahh…such a beautiful night. The moon shares its beauty with the rest of the world. Should anyone here be looking for the trinket, the room below my feet holds it. However, to get to the trinket, one must confront their enemy. Strike quickly and without hesitation…” 

[Opal 0]

Was it a trap laid out to capture Opal? The woman hid herself well as she listened to the old man speak to her openly, but not at her. She wondered how to go about this. She snuck forward, her black garb melting into the shadows as she ran past. She lifted her body upwards and struck the back of his head with her fist. The body fell forward, but it was not her Master. It was a recorded message hidden within the jacket and she had set off a trap. She heard the triggers of several small pods beneath her feet as the mannequin fell over. Using her acrobatics, she back flipped several times before landing on her feet and sliding them outwards watching as their targets missed. She sighed a bit and bit her lower lip. Feeling a bit cocky, she made a mad dash towards that section again, this time doing forward flips and then spinning in the air and landing on her feet directly ahead. She moved swiftly with the grace of a cat and propelled herself downwards, catching a pole and then crashing through the opening of the window. As she landed, she fled into the shadows once more and was accompanied with another recording.

“Hidden in the room is the trinket you search for. However, as you can clearly see the room is decorated with ringing bells all of which are connected to one another. Where hands and feet do not work, other limbs must be used…” 

[Opal 0]

She didn’t know what he had meant by other limbs? Upon closer inspection of the room there seemed to be numerous bells decorated over the floor, the ceiling and the walls. The trinket seemed to be just in the middle of the room from what she gathered but no way of reaching it without stepping into the mine field of bells. She looked around; perhaps there was a pole or something she could use that would be the only thing she could think of to use to get the trinket. Her honey colored eyes looked around the room, she was trapped either way. Grunting lowly, she pulled the scabbard from her waist and attempted to get the trinket that way, but her small arms were not long enough to reach it.

Ninja tools would be a mighty fine idea right about now. She sighed, pulling the rope from her scabbard clean off and tied a small knot to the pole where she stood. With her feet to the corner, she leaned back using the rope to give herself the extra room and slipped the bare scabbard under the trinket, lifted it and slid it down the sheath and into her hand. Now for the escape…

[Opal 0]

Shifting her weight, her long slender legs reached outside and she vaulted upwards into the sky towards the roof, this time the female shinobi was met face to face with Master Myoga.

“I do not remember saying you could take that trinket, it belongs to me…”
“Finders keepers…” she spoke through the mask of her outfit, a sultry tone like she normally used as she decorated the bauble in her hand raising it for him to see.

The old man sketched a smile briefly before taking a martial arts stance, “Then you must get through me first…”

Opal smiled through her facial mask and put away the trinket. She slid a leg forward mimicking his pose to a nil. She started her rush, feet pounding against the roof tiles then she vaulted forward her fist aimed dead center of the Master Myoga’s head. His rigid hand came up like an explosion, “I am also Grand Master of Martial Arts!” his hand shot forward catching her fist, turning it low, spinning on his foot and kicked her in the head with the back of his foot before releasing her to the ground. 

[Opal 0]

Opal fell backwards, her body hitting the roof as she fell and turned over, “Grand Master of everything…[censored]…I can’t beat you…” Cracking her knuckles and despite unable to win this duel, the young woman shot forward with an explosive attack. She landed on her feet, twisted to the left and hooked her leg. A steel arm came upwards and deflected the strike, his palm thrust forward and pushed her back several feet. She grit her teeth through her mask and stormed forth once more, her body going low and attempting to sweep him off his feet. A small jump he made and shot a palm strike into her shoulder, the pain only small but it caused the woman to stagger back. He got her by the material of her garb pulled her in and held her down and kicked upwards spinning as he did so. The woman twisted in the air and was shot back falling rapidly to the ground. She landed on the cement off the roof and was slow to get up.

Master Myoga leapt off the roof and landed on his feet, his wrinkly eyes smiled at her, “Had enough yet?”

She growled lightly, pounding the ground with both hands she went upwards into the sky. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms as he blocked her falling punch. She ducked low, breaking his defense and thrust a blow to his ribcage, spun around and kicked him in the side of the face with her heel. 

[Opal 0]

The old man staggered only a bit as he repositioned himself. He held out his hand to stop her next series of attacks, “You did well tonight, Opal-san. Let us have our dinner and talk about what transpired this evening.”

“Thank you, Sensei.” Opal and her teacher walked back to the housing where it was quickly cleared up of any bells and everything was once more lit up. Opal had found the bathroom and the bath to be especially warm tonight as her muscles relaxed and sank in the waters. She smoothed her skin with soapy hands and tightened her fist, she felt stronger, if only by a little. She wondered if she could learn martial arts too, much like her Master. There would be a time for that eventually. Her dripping body lifted up out of the waters and dried herself with the towel. She examined her body through a steamy mirror and smiled lightly, she was toning up a little bit from what she could tell, or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Getting dressed in her green kimono, Opal did her hair up and walked back to the sweet smelling room of the dining area.